How to Make a Chair

You can buy identical chairs just about anywhere: yours will look the same as your neighbor’s and that friend’s from work. Boring. If you want to set yourself apart, bringing your personality to your furniture (and maybe save a few dollars while you’re at it), look no further than wikiHow. This article covers bean bags to beach chairs, dining chairs to shop stools.

Method
1
Wood Chair
These wooden dining chairs will give you a sleek, mission style. The measurements can easily be changed to adjust for different sizes and the back style is easy to adjust to your needs. All skills are basic and the tools needed are easy to acquire.

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Gather your materials. You’ll need 2x2s, 1x4s, a sheet of 1.5″ plywood, 1/4″ dowels, wood glue, 2.5″ decking screws, double ended screws, a drill with a 1/4″ bit, a jigsaw, and a circular saw. The saws can both be rented from major hardware stores and other local companies.
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Cut the sides. You’ll need to cut:
Two 16.5″ pieces of 2×2
Two 37″ pieces of 2×2
Two 14″ pieces of 1×4
One 14″ piece of 1×4, then split that lengthwise into two long pieces.
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Assemble the sides.
Drill 1/4″ holes half-way into the 16.5″ posts, 1 1/6″ from the top and then 2 1/3″ from the top.
Cut identically spaced 1/4″ holes into both ends of the 1×4 boards.
Drill 1/4″ holes half-way into the 37″ posts, 15 1/3″ from the bottom, then 14 1/6″ from the bottom.
Glue and then insert dowels into the holes. Then you can fit all of the pieces together to form the two sides of the chair. The side pieces should be flush with the tops of the short posts.
Slide the split 1x4s 4″ up from the bottom on either side piece and screw them into place with decking screws.
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Prepare for the connections.
Cut three pieces of 14″ 1×4, and cut a 12″ piece of 1×4 into 3 pieces.
Cut a 17×17″ square from the plywood for the seat. Then cut 1.5″x1.5″ notches out of two of the corners of the board, to make room for the back posts.
Drill 1/4″ dowel holes into one of the 1x4s at the edge on one of the long sides (one hole centered and the other two 4 1/3″ from each end of the board).
Line up this piece with the seat piece on the side that has the notches. Mark the locations of the dowel holes from the 1×4 onto the seat piece between the two notches. Drill 1/4″ dowel holes there as well.
Drill 1/4″ dowel holes, centered, into each of your 3 pieces created from the 1×4.
Drill centered pilot holes in your posts for your decking screws 1 3/4″ from the top of the short posts and 14 3/4 from the bottom of your tall posts.
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Build the chair back. Glue and insert dowels into both ends of the 3 pieces created from the 1×4. Then, insert them into the 1×4 and into the seat back. Allow the glue to set before proceeding.
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Insert the back/seat combination. Glue and then position the seat in place with the two side pieces below it, the back posts fit snugly into their notches. Insert the decking screws through the plywood and down into the center of the front posts.
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Secure everything in place.
Glue and slide the two final aprons (front and back), and then screw them into place through the pilot holes you made earlier (passing through the posts and into the side of the apron).
Then insert two more decking screws going through the seat and into the back apron, with the screw place in between the 3 vertical bars.
You can create an even stronger connect with corner brackets on the inside of the chair, if you want to.
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Sand and prepare the surface. Sand the enter surface of the chair to prepare it for staining or painting. You can also use this time to round out edges if you don’t like the clean line look.
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Paint the wood. Paint or stain the wood however you like. When it’s dry, you’re done! Enjoy your new chair!